Buckle



June 24 1924. 1,498,787 T. s. CURTIS BUcKLE- Filed Aug. 13. 1921 Patented June Z4, i924..

THERON S. CURTIS, OF NORTH ATTLEBO'RQ, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 I. SMTH COMPANY, 0F NOR-TH In'. FlSSACHUSETTS, Il TRUST ASSOCTION 0F MASSACHUSETTS.

BUCKLE.

T o all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, THERON S. CURTIS, a citizen of the United States, and resident of North Attleboro, in the county of Bristol and State of Massachusetts, have invente-d certain new and useful Improvements in Buckles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to buckles for belts and other purposes and is intended to provide a buckle of the tongueless type requiring no perforation of the belt for tongue receiving holes which shall be capable of an indefinite range of adjustment of the strap or belt while atall times affording a reliable grip to hold the belt at any desired position of adjustment and at the same time perfectly accommodating itself to the different thickness of different belts.

Tongueless buckles with clamping rollers have heretofore been used with a considerable measure of success but it often happens when thin stock of soft metal like sterling silver is used in this class of buckles the pressure of the belt upon the roller journals transmitted to the thin edges of the slots in the side flanges of the buckle body produces rapid wearing away or impression of such edges at the points of pressure so `that recesses are formed into which the roller journals sink thus interfering with the proper action of theroller in relation to the belt and weakening the grip of the roller against the belt whereby the belt is allowed to slip. Moreover the slotting of the side flanges tends, particularly when thin stock is used, to weaken the flanges so that they are easily bent or deformed.

The present'invention overcomes these difliculties by providing a clamping member with a sufficiently broad bearing contact against the buckle so thatthe gougingl or cutting of the guide portion of the buckle is prevented while at the same time, the side flanges instead of being weakened by slots are actually strengthened by flanges whichform vboth guides for the clamping member and stiffening means for reinforcing the buckle body.

In general the invention comprises Vafront or body plate provided with parallel side flanges having their inside edges inturned toward each other to form guides or tracks on which the clamping member is slidably Application filed August 13, 1921. Serial No. 491,931.

supported, stops being provided to limit the movement of the clamping member or slide and to prevent its, accidental detachment from the body of the buckle.

his and other features ofthe invention will be. explained on the following specification and will be defined in the claims hereto annexed. i

In the accompanying drawings is illusln the practice of the invention according' to the specific form. thereof shown in the drawings, 4l comprising a front plate (t having rearwardly' or inwardly turned flanges b eX- tending in parallelism along opposite sides of the front plate.

At one endof the l'nickle the side flanges are perforate or counter sunk to form a pair of aligned bearings for the ends of a swinging or pivotal bail C to which the anchored end of' the belt or strap d is secured in any suitable manner.

Adjacent to the anchorage or bail carrying end the side flanges 7) have their edge portions e turned in toward each other to form stifi'ening flanges.v On the other side of the middle of the buckle the side flanges arealso turned inward toward each other to form flanges or lips f which not only act to st'iffen the buckle body and particularly t-he flanges b but which alsorare inclined at anV acute angle to the front plate of the buckle lengthwise thereof so as to form oblique guides or tracks which gradually approach'to the front plate near the end thereof so' as to form inclined parallel tracks in the sameplane. l l

As indicated in Figures 1 and '3 these tracks or guides are formed'at their outer ends with inward projections gV which form stops at the end ofthe buckle.` At their ends near the middle of the buckle a portion Y i transverse central sectionshowing the same.

employ a body memberv of each guide f is turned toward the iront plate or outwardly to form stops o to limit the movement ot the clamping member in that direction.

The clampingmember or slide is preterably formed of a single piece of metal and comprises a Hat bearing plate or strip /1 of sufficient length to project beyond the side flanges of the buckle and one or more iorwardlyr turned or projecting lips e' of sittlicient depth to grip a fairly thin belt when the slide is near the adjacent end ot the buckle and to grip a fairly thick belt when the slide'or clamping member is near the middle of the buckle.

'As shown in Figure 4r the opposite ends of the gripping portion or lip i is under out et slotted, immediately adjacent to the main or bearing plate z of the slide so as to engage and receive the guide flange on that side. rllous it will be understood the cross bar i has a flat sliding contact or bearing with the rear faces ot the guides f, while the slotted or under cut gripping lips or members i receive the thrust or pressure to cause the clamping ot the belt between the front plate and the slide or clamping menr ber.

In assembling the device, the stops or lips o will not be bent up until after the clamping member has been inserted and push-ed along beyond the position occupied by the lip portion o; then the lips can be bent to -form stops and the travel of the slide 7a is limited by the outer stops g and the inner stops o so that the slide or gripper cannot fall ott' or separate from the buckle.

In practice the fixed end of the belt d is looped around or otherwise secured to the anchorage member or bail, while the tongue or free end of the belt is inserted and pushed through the buckle between the lfront Vplate and the movable `clamp which, in order tol afford ample clearance is pushed back toward the middle of the buckle. llVhen the belt is drawn through to the desired adjustment, the clamp is moved toward the buckle end opposite the anchorage member until by its approach toward the iront plate it grips the belt and pinches it against the front plate. In this position any pull tending to draw the tongue or free end ot the belt out ot the buckle acts to cause a tighter grip by the clamp by reason of the inclination of its guide tracks toward the Jfront plate. tongue end tends to relax the grip on the belt since it tends to draw the clamp toward the middle of the buckle. rlhis makes it very easy to release and take ott the belt.

The clamping or belt gripping member has a wide bearing engagement with the buckle body and presentsa very effective gripping edge to press against the belt A forward pull on thev ineens? thereby minimizing the tendencyT of the belt to slip under strain. Moreover this gripping edge'can be easily made of a curvature or contour corresponding to the transverse curvature of the front plate when the iront plate is crowneda so as to grip the belt through its wholewidth.

`While l have shown a' pivoted bail `tor an anchorage it will be understood that suitablewrneans for securing or retaining the anchored end of the belt may be used.

1Vilhat I claim is:

l. In a belt buckle, the combination oi front plate having rearwardly projec' e side flanges whose edge portions are inturned to torni guide ledges inclined to the front plate, a clamping member comprising a U-slia-ped transverse plate arranged to extend transversely across the guide ledges and form interlocking and sliding engage ment therewith to cause the two edges to crowd into the free end of the 'belt lwhen inserted between the clamping member and the iront plate, said ledges being provided at their opposite ends with projecting lips arranged to prevent the withdrawal Jfrom the ledges of the transverse clamping meinber, and means affording an anchorage for the ired end of the belt, substantially as described.

2. In a belt buckle, the combination ot a front plate having rearwardly projecting side lianges whose edge portions are inturned toward each other to form inclined guide ledges, a transverse clamping mein ber comprising a flat plate arranged to extend across and project beyond the guide ledges and having inturned flanges arranged to lorm gripping engagement to pinch the interposed belt against the front plate. said flanges being slotted in the direction oi their length to receive and interlock with said inclined guide ledges, and means ording a self-adjusting anchorage for the fixed end of the belt, substantially as described.

3. In a belt buckle, the combination of a front plate having rearwardly projectingl side flanges provided with inwardly projecting guide tracks inclined forwardly from the middle to the end of the buckle, a slidable clamping member of ibi-shaped cross-section whose opposite ends are slotted to form track-receiving grooves which maintain the strap-clamping edges of the ttl-shaped clamping member in parallelism as the clamping member `moves along the tracks to grip the strap adjustably against the front plate, and means for retaining the fixed end ot the strap, substantially as described.

in witness whereof I vhave subscribed the above specification.

PEER-UN S. CURTIS.

llt) 

